CIC aids

You may be able to use normal stethoscope earpieces over CICs. Some find the pressure on the hearing aids is too uncomfortable. Using headphones with an electronic stethoscope is a simple and effective option. Or try adapted earpieces (Steth-O-Mates) or custom ear moulds. These can all be used with a normal stethoscope or with an electronic stethoscope if you need amplification at low frequencies.

You can take your hearing aids out to use a stethoscope but CICs can be a bit fiddly. Some people work with one in and one out [1]. Remember, using a stethoscope in only one ear, sounds will only be half as loud.

And see how your audiogram matches up to heart and lung sounds to find out whether you need amplification or not.

If the spring in other stethoscope arms is so strong you find it uncomfortable, try the Thinklabs ds32a+ which has adjustable arms. I haven’t handled one myself yet so do let me know if you try this and how you get on. Thanks.

Don’t forget, hearing aids don’t usually reproduce the low frequencies well. So if you’re using earpieces, custom moulds or headphones over hearing aids you also need vents in your ear moulds or open fitting

Certain electronic stethoscopes can link to hearing aids using accessories such as the T switch, direct audio input (DAI) cables or even FM or Bluetooth if your hearing aids have these facilities. However it is better to use earpieces or headphones if possible to avoid the problem of poor low frequency reproduction.

[1] Don’t leave the other earpiece dangling. Put it in your ear, wear it occluded against your neck or block it with something else. That prevents problems with background noise and attenuation from the free earpiece.